


You Are Strong Enough to Survive the Fall

by bluesargenttt



Category: The Grisha Trilogy - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Angst, Book 1: King of Scars, Book 3: Ruin and Rising Spoilers, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-17 06:01:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29095428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluesargenttt/pseuds/bluesargenttt
Summary: Seconds before Nikolai touched the ground, Zoya pillowed his descent.
Relationships: Nikolai Lantsov/Zoya Nazyalensky
Comments: 1
Kudos: 24





	You Are Strong Enough to Survive the Fall

Gunpowder permeated the frigid air and the Volcra’s shrieks surrounded her, occasionally muffled by the sound of detonating bombs. The desolate sands of the Shadow Fold had turned into a battlefield as bodies clashed together in combat, flesh and blood meeting fire and lightning. 

If there was a hell, she imagined it would look something like this. 

Zoya gasped for breath as she dodged an attacking Inferni’s fire. Her brow furrowed in concentration as she summoned the wind, tinged with permafrost to counteract the flames. The Inferni was no match for her skill, spiraling away with the force of Zoya’s gale, but she was surrounded. 

As she adjusted her stance, ready to go down with a fight, she felt heat graze the side of her face. The fizzle and crackle of explosives nearly deafened her left ear, the Darkling’s Grisha scattering to avoid being blown to bits. 

Harshaw. 

She saw a flash of red hair and Harshaw’s quicksilver smile, blazing a trail of fire against the Darkling’s army. 

A bomb detonated near one soldier, and Zoya watched his leg dismember from his body. Her head pounded with the sound of his screams. 

How did I get here? 

What sequence of events in Zoya’s life ultimately culminated in this moment, frozen in battle with the young men and women she had grown up with? 

Lilyana’s face flashed before her eyes. Her aunt’s benevolent smile, nearly identical to her own. The tumble of fierce curls that Zoya shared, which always made her heart flutter with gratitude. Lilyana’s delicate fingers wrapped around a teacup, laughing at one of Zoya’s barbs. 

She was on the ground, breathing in sand and rubble. She opened her eyes just in time to see a knife impale Harshaw. He went to his knees and collapsed. 

An inhuman scream pierced the air. It was her own. 

Hot rage licked up Zoya’s spine and pain gripped her heart. The Darkling had destroyed Novokibirsk. He’d killed Lilyana. 

He’d ruined Zoya. 

She felt a tide of water plunge on her, filling her eyes and nostrils. 

She couldn’t stop seeing her aunt’s face. Torn limb from limb by beastly Volcra. The white scars running up Genya’s arms, like a broken porcelain doll. Adrik’s torn socket, bleeding on the ship deck. 

And the Darkling’s quartz grey eyes, the corners wrinkled in amusement. 

Zoya let the pain drown her. The fire of her hatred consumed her from the inside, and tears pricked her eyes as she summoned the storm thrumming in her veins. Punishing, unforgiving. 

Like her. 

Grey clouds gathered overhead, crackling with thunder. 

Zoya arced her arms and the storm came. 

Her world descended into lightning. 

The wind tore at her kefta. Blood ran down her nose and black clouded the edges of her vision. 

Good. Let me die. Let the pain end. 

She heard her aunt laughing in the distance. Lilyana opened her arms in an embrace. 

She let go. 

"Zoya Nazyalensky, you are strong enough to survive the fall." 

Her eyes flashed open. She registered a figure swathed in darkness, tumbling to the Earth. 

A fallen angel? 

Seconds before Nikolai touched the ground, Zoya pillowed his descent.


End file.
